In my reno i gave up and ate out for a month and a half!!!

Same as jmith:) even made a spread sheet with all the happy hours and kids eat free nights:)

We ate out/at the grocery store, or ate big meals at lunch....for Four years.

In my next house I am moving the entire old kitchen to the basement and setting that up first before starting anything.

We prepared meals relatively comfortably during the renovation. I'd prepared some dinners ahead and froze them in single meal microwaveable containers. E.g. stew, chili, turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy. We had the grill on which I roasted some things in aluminum foil as well as doing the usual grill fare. I even baked a frozen pie and made a simple cake in the grill though acting as a human thermostat adjusting the temperature was a bit of a pain.

We had a rice cooker, microwave, hot plate, hot water pot and toaster oven so anything that didn't need a full-sized oven was doable and the main issue was to cook things that didn't need a lot of clean up or prep tools since most everything except a knife, vegetable peeler and a cutting board was put away. We also had the tiny bar sink and the expresso machine.

We used the laundry sink for clean up - a bit annoying at times because one had to go either outside or through the kitchen to get from the temporary kitchen to the laundry. We had a bus tub (like might be used for bussing tables) to carry things to and from the laundry room. Since the sink in there is extra deep, we had another tub upside down in the utility sink that we could put the one with the dishes on so it was a more convenient height.

Life without my kitchen has been nerve wrecking at best. We bought a deep fryer (my son has to have his fries) and an electric skillet. We've also barbequed more in this last month than we have in five years.

I'll be glad when it's over.

In my next house I am moving the entire old kitchen to the basement and setting that up first before starting anything.

Precisely! This worked out well.

It even led to this:

Love those pictures! Classic. If only we had access to our basement (sigh)...just a tiny upstairs bathroom sink to wash dishes and fruit, and a microwave and fridge in our living room.

We moved into our garage for 2 months. It wasnt completely miserable. Lol. This was our entire living space other than bedrooms and bath.

The second view...

We set it up like an extended camping trip with a 10x10 tent out on the back patio. We used a folding table, the peninsula overhead cabs, and the old peninsula for prep surface and storage, a Coleman stove, and the OTR MW set on 2x4s with its cord trailing off to the outside socket. We even set up our 6' high breakdown camping shelves for outside storage. The fridge sat in the LR for the duration-not convenient, but it was there. Water was available in the set tub, ADA utility sink, in the garage. I can't decide if the washing up or the paper plates were my least favorite part.

LOL to abctate! That's the most elaborate temporary setup I've ever seen! You even put down a rug :-)

I just looked at my pictures above and remembered this: I became worried that I was too TKO when I began fretting if I had chosen the best layout for my temporary kitchen in the laundry room!

Love the pictures - making me laugh this morning :-) Keeping notes for next time (lol)

We kept fridge, microwave, and an electric burner in the garage with food. Used powder room exclusive for dishwashing and installed various containers on the back of the toilet, the (closed) toilet seat, and in front of the toilet (a rolling bathroom cart) for dishes to drip dry.

I asked this same question recently and several people had good ideas about relocating the kitchen to a spare bedroom in addition to the ones here. We didn't do anything. Since we are diy, I didn't think it would be a problem to work around, but it has been. We have an office with a sink and mini fridge in the garage and I should have cleaned that out and used it as kitchen. Instead, we ate a lot of fast food, my cholesterol went up to the point that my dr has me on meds, and I am truly so sick of fast food that I may never eat it again.

a body can get used to eating less and less. It can happen when there are no opportunities to cook food.

I hope this is the most horrible inconvenience, frustration, trauma, annoyance, and being-put-out experience you guys ever have in your entire life.

If you can't suck it up and handle it for your own by-choice-renovation, none of you are never going to make it when things are really tough.

I realize reading this flat out sounds mean, but come on. There are a budzillion threads on how to deal with life during a renovation, all with excellent ideas. Even if you're brand new here, trying a little SEARCH would give you ideas.

I, myself, after a house fire, went to the neighbors for .. ahh... plumbing for 3 years. Try that. Who gives a damn about a kitchen when you can't even pee in your unheated, un-windowed, unplumbed house?

It's frustrating, but do-able.

My picture is of an unheated room, the open window (i.e. no glass hole), a credenza I found on the side of the road, if you look closely MOUNDS of mouse poop, no water, no stove, nothing. (Note the extension cords direct wired to the fuze box thru holes poked in the walls.) And don't forget my lying', cheatin' no-good-POS GC husband's beer. Always $$ for his beer. Ooops. I digress into ranting. (Sorry pic is so bad.)

Consider yourself blessed it's by choice.

yes, p.s.

Life without a kitchen can pretty much just plain suck.

I admire the folks here who (read) planned ahead and knew it could be tough, or it could be liveable.

Great job creating OMG, laughing memories.

We used a toaster oven, crock pot, george foreman and microwave.

We also bought more convenience type food (like pre-shredded lettuce, cut veggies etc). We ate out once a week.

It's hard, but we have done okay. I have a toaster oven and single induction burner set up in the basement. we use the basement utility sink to wash dishes. we renewed our CSA/farm box subscription for the summer to force us to still cook at home instead of being tempted by regular take-out.

and - yes - there are worse problems to have :)

Some shots of our temporary kitchen - set up in the entry hall with the wet bar on one side and dining room on the other.

The big thing under the table is the back of our pre-remodel 30-year old microwave. One tip - figure out which outlets are on different circuits and don't plug your fridge into the same circuit as your cooking equipment.

We were lucky to have the wet bar - not much room for washing dishes but at least handy for food prep and coffee.

We bought the rack and the white box with slide out drawers to make the temporary set up a bit easier to use.

Our basement has a dog tub handy for washing up, so we moved down there. We took down a small dining table, set up microwave and parents' countertop oven on another table, laid 2x6 boards across filing cabinets for a countertop, and used a plastic toy shelf for a pantry. The fridge was still upstairs so we carried cold stuff up and down in a box. There is a futon down there, and windows and a radio and NO TV, so it was the most peaceful spot in the house during the reno. We didn't cook, mostly just had sandwiches or heated stuff up, but we were only out of our kitchen for 3 weeks so it was no big deal.

A couple of days into the reno I told a friend we had 3 kitchens in the house: the old one (dismantled and waiting for the Habitat truck), the new one (in pieces on the back porch), and the temporary one in the basement -- and that all 3 of them were better than what probably 95% of the world had.

In that respect we are very lucky this time. We have by far the most luxurious temporary kitchen we have had in any of our renovations.
Our living room has a wet bar, so we have both a reasonable living room and a little kitchen area. The rest of the house is a disaster, but we do have somewhere decent to be which makes a huge difference.

Here's my current setup (since April 23rd, but who's counting?):

and

My essential equipment: toaster oven, induction burner, refrigerator, grill, sink. I grill protein most nights, and steam veggies and/or make rice on the induction burner.

Optional but fun equipment: panini maker.

Meals have been good, and not extremely stressful, since I've modified my expectations. We've eaten out only 4 times since the reno started, one necessitated by a lacrosse tournament, not the lack of kitchen.

So the cooking part hasn't been what's gotten to me. What's gotten to me is all the stuff that has no place to be put away, the dust, being crammed into a tiny (by 1st world standards) living space. Yes, all by choice, so I consider myself lucky. But I might not have signed up for this if I'd realized all it would entail. My new kitchen has a huge task ahead of it: convince me it was all worth it. :)

I did some research and found several websites that covered cooking while your kitchen is...gone.

Chowhound covered it quite extensively, with recipes, etc.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/319706

My particular dilemma was that we were left without a sink. No laundry sink, no nothing! So whatever we made, had to result in a clean up that would not stop up the drains in the bathroom sinks.

I planned 21 meals, cooked some ahead of time (lentil soup with Italian sausage froze well and was a big hit), and did a lot of grilling. Grilled flank steak and veggies, grilled burgers, grilled sausages, grilled fish.

We also ate some salad meals--steak salad, salad nicoise, etc.

Everything was off paper plates and cups. I did keep two wine glasses and coffee cups for my espresso machine, or I would not have made it.

Cloudwift--is that a Sharp, by chance? I still have my 23 yo Sharp and it's ticking right along. I have a feeling I'm going to miss it and it's simple controls.

No basement, no laundry room, no wet bar, no large entryway, so it'll have to be a bedroom since the girls are out and the garage will be used for storage. I really should be setting it up as I type, as the contractor is going to start (yea!!!) digging and framing the kitchen extension on Mon., and told me it will take two weeks. Unfortunately dh is partial to saucy meals which he won't get much of for awhile since I'm not going to cook messy things--he's a good sport, though. I'm lucky to have a laundry tub in the garage which will serve as a sink. The only thing is, my garage gets so dusty-dirty since I'm on the side of the street that our daily breeze blows right into--I can't imagine the crew will keep the garage door closed as that is access to the electrical.

CEF--Ouch. You've been to a pretty bad place and now, I hope, back to a better place. You must be one tough cookie to have put up with all that!

Here's our temporary kitchen:

However, here's our guilty secret of how to manage. My parents have been living here using this kitchen for the last 3 months while we live in their house with our toddler. They offered!

gregincal, you have the Best. Parents. Ever. (But the setup looks pretty good, especially the wine glassses!)

The frig was in the dining room and the microwave, toaster oven, coffee maker and cutting board in the basement. It was summer, and we could grill. Cooking wasn't the problem though - cleaning up was. Even using disposable plates, cups, and flatware there was always stuff to wash, and it was hard in that deep basement sink. And walking up and down the stairs repeatedly was a pain. It was easier just to go out. For dinner we mainly ate Boston Market, Subway, and China Buffet, so it wasn't an awful diet. Our friends and family also took pity on us and had us over. Fortunately, it only lasted five weeks.

Sayde put us all to shame, though, with her Beef Wellington made in the temporary kitchen.

Yes, this is by choice (sort of). We were naive in purchasing a house with an old kitchen, listening to a relative say "Oh, this will be an easy fix - new kitchen for a small space for 20K." Ha ha. Didn't realize then it was a total gut job with some major issues. We would have prefered to wait, but with cabinets and appliances literally falling apart, it seemed like there was no choice this year. I second fouramblues "But I might not have signed up for this if I'd realized all it would entail. My new kitchen has a huge task ahead of it: convince me it was all worth it." Exactly. And yes, there are much worse things in life that I've dealt with and I'm sure you all have to. And without the food allergy equation (one of us is allergic to table salt!), I would be able shrug a bit more. I admit, I was just a first-time homeowner, clueless about all the nitty-gritty. Gee, it seems so easy when you watch HGTV ;-)

I now watch DIY instead, and they have a show called soomething like Renovation Realities. It shows people trying to DIY who run into unforeseen problems. It's very refreshing.

Christine, about that 'by the side of the road' sideboard. That looks really good. Was it parquet wood underneath the paint?

This is month 8 for us, so we're getting pretty good at doing without anything. (During 7 of those, I've been pregnant. fun, fun!)

The only thing that has been hooked up during this time is the fridge. All the cooking is done on a small folding table in the adjoining room. We use: crock pot, rice cooker/steamer, blender (lots of smoothies here!), microwave, and the grill (outside, of course). After a while, you get creative...and willing to eat about anything. ;)

Homemade soups have been a blessing, but between the steamer and crock pot, you really can make a lot. I try to avoid using microwaves at all cost, so I generally don't use it at all. (DH does, and he uses it for heating leftovers.)

Pinterest has helped my attitude about it all because I can go on food hunts, looking for fun things to make with the set up that we do have.

That said, I'm DYING to cook for real. Man, I miss it! Some days, a girl just needs freshly baked muffins, you know? :)

Dishes are either done in the bathroom sink (YUCK) or with the garden hose (also yuck). For eating, we use paper plates and plastic utensils. It's not enviro-friendly or cost effective, but it sure beats having even more dishes to do given the set up.

We have another 2 months to go, at least. ;) Hang in there....you can do it!

Yikes can't imagine going through it when our kids were little! We're empty nesters so just DH and me and that was a big enough PAIN.

We did lots of cereal and/or toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and we dined out for dinner. For three months! We had no running water on our main floor during that time and I told hubby I was not inclined to haul dirty dishes up to 2nd floor bathroom to wash them.

Yes, I can be a prima Donna at times. But I work full time and there was always lots to do in the evenings such as sweeping up or vacuuming dust from the days activities. It was a long 3 months, but so worth the end result.

The single thing that made our reno easier was the purchase of a $40 plastic sink on legs from the big box store. I was able to hook it up at night to the plumbing and unhook in the am before anyone arrived to work and move it onto my deck. Really helped, and all it took was a quick turn of my 1" wrench, and the plumber leaving me something to hook into.

I found that cooking was the easy part, but the clean up was terrible and limited what we could make until my wonderful DH came home a few days into the reno with the plastic sink. I still use it in my garden :)

Well, Westsider40, no, it wasn't parquet.

One winter after a cold, cold night, I bundled up and went out there to make an espresso. (Never, never let go of your espresso machine!) I discovered a raccoon had spent the night sleeping in the kitchen, and among other things, dining on the wood edge of the credenza. I discovered it was particle board. The way it looked, you'd have thought it was a hidden treasure under all that gummy blue paint.

You know, the cats were pacing at the door of the room we lived in all night. I thought it was just another mouse or something. Too cold for the usual snakes. I'm kind of glad I didn't go out there in the dark, because a scared raccoon would have scared the pants off me! As it was, it ran back out thru one of the many holes in the floor, leaving poop trails all the way out. The dogs were going NUTS!

sjerin, I'm not necessarily a tough cookie. What are you going to do, right? Little did I know what really should have been done in a year, minimum, would still be going on today. My GC/DH bailed on me 4 years ago, while I was being patient and understanding of his overworked, constantly ill self. So here I am, plugging along.

So here are some revamped platitudes, a la Christine:
"Poverty is the mother of invention."
"Tough times don't last. Tough people do."
"Faith makes things possible, not easy."
"That which does not destroy me, just makes me meaner and more determined."
"All work and no play makes no time for Christine to whine."
"What goes around, comes around and sometimes God blesses you with being able to witness someone getting their butt kicked by Kharma. Hopefully it's not you, but be wise enough to recognize your own Kharma in action."

Ok. Too much coffee.